Creating A Chicken Analogue with Mycoprotein

Abstract

To meet the growing demand of meat alternatives, this project was dedicated to creating a chicken analogue prototype with mycoprotein. Within the project, two approaches of alginate gelation, external (diffusion) crosslinking and internal crosslinking, were studied in this particular food matrix.
Using the external crosslinking method, the effects of major ingredients on the texture, structure and taste of the product were studied. Biomass is the major structure forming ingredients, and alginate, citrus fiber, salt and oil contribute to increasing the water holding capacity and modifying the firmness of the sample. The effects of different concentration of calcium salt solutions on the rate of crosslinking were investigated. The crosslinking rate from high to low is: 2.5% (w/w) CaCl2, 5% calcium lactate, 1% CaCl2, and 2% calcium lactate. Several heat treatment approaches were investigated to eliminate the astringency and off-taste generated by the inclusion of oil in the formulation. And heating the mycoprotein and water mixture was found to be the most suitable method.
Two approaches of internal crosslinking were studied. While the combination of sodium alginate solution, D-glucono-δ-lactone, and CaCO3 did not lead to any desirable results, a sample with balanced texture between tenderness and chewiness was obtained with the combination of sodium alginate powder and CaSO4.
The fiber alignment of the prototype was created through simplified extrusion, and the presence of alignment was examined by running a texture analysis. The significant difference (p<0.05) in fracture force and hardness of sheared samples in perpendicular and parallel directions verified the existence of aligned fibers in one general direction.
Overall, the objectives of this project were achieved and a chicken analogue prototype with aligned fibrous structure was obtained.

Popular Abstract

This project made use of the fibrous nature and taste-neutral characteristic of fungi mycelia, and developed a chicken alternative with this alternative protein.
In recent years, the demand for protein from non-animal sources has been ever-growing due to the increasing population and environmental consciousness. Besides plant-based protein, fungi as a protein source have received high interest in the industry. Mycelia, which can be considered as the root of fungi, contains more than 50% of protein on a dry mass basis. In addition, its color and taste neutral features, and fibrous texture makes it a material with high potential for constructing meat alternatives.
Gelling agents are usually needed for meat alternatives to act as a glue holding proteous materials together. Alginate is a natural gelling agents derived from algae, and is often used in the food industry. When in contact with Ca2+, alginate forms a stable gel that withstand a wide temperature range. In this project, mycelia, alginate, together with oil are used to create an alternative protein food product that highly resembles chicken.
The effects of ingredients on product texture and structure were studied to aid the formulation process of the current and future projects. The gelation of alginate can be approached by either soaking the food matrix in calcium solution bath, or pre-mixing calcium that can be slowly released into the matrix. Both approaches were studied. Different calcium solution bathes were tried out to see their effects on the gelation rate and CaCl2 was found to be more effective than calcium lactate. Adding vegetable oil was found to increase the tenderness and juiciness of the product. However, it brings about undesirable mouthfeel and odor, and different oils were found to generate these effects to different extends. By adding additional heat treatment after mycelia and water was mixed can effectively avoid the unpleasant attributes. Mixing a premade powder of sodium alginate and CaSO4 into the mycelium matrix gave good results in terms of a texture and mouthfeel similar to chicken. The fibrous muscle strand-like structure of the product was created by simply squeezing the paste through a small outlet. The aligned fibers could not only be seen visually, they were also detected by texture analyzer.
Overall, this project successfully created a chicken alternative with a neutral taste, meaty texture and fibrous appearance.

• author: Zheng, Jiayi
• supervisor: Lars Nilsson
• organization: Food Technology and Nutrition (M.Sc.)
• course: KLGM01 20221
• year: 2022
• type: H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
• subject: Technology and Engineering
• keywords: meat analogue, mycoprotein, product development, sodium alginate, food technology
• language: English
• id: 9085850
• date added to LUP: 2022-06-09 14:06:16
• date last changed: 2023-07-31 03:42:22